NHL Re-Alignment

[billy101]

So for a school project I am going to be discussing the issues related to re-alignment in sports, specifically the NHL because it is an issue that is currently happening.

I still don't really understand the whole issue so I need a few questions answered . . .

Why is re-alignment an issue in any sport?

Why is it an issue in the NHL?

What are the pros and cons?

Who is involved?

Why does it happen?

What difference does it make? Is it necessary?

I would greatly appreciate it if you could help me out! Thanks.

[trwi7]

Because teams like Columbus and Detroit don't want to travel to places like Vancouver, Los Angeles and San Jose several times a year.

[WEFFPIM]

So for a school project I am going to be discussing the issues related to re-alignment in sports, specifically the NHL because it is an issue that is currently happening.

I still don't really understand the whole issue so I need a few questions answered . . .

Why is re-alignment an issue in any sport?
-Various reasons depending on the league. For the NHL, it was more of a financial issue than a competitive balance issue (which is why MLB is moving the Astros to the AL shortly)

Why is it an issue in the NHL?
-Columbus, Detroit, Nashville, Dallas and Minnesota start a majority of their road games two, sometimes three hours later than home games because of being in the Western Conference. Fans don't stay up until 12:30a to watch a hockey game. But the catalyst for this one was moving the Thrashers from Atlanta to Winnipeg, and needing to get them out of the Eastern Conference.

What are the pros and cons?
-Pros: save a ton of money on travel costs, re-form rivalries that were lost a few decades ago, keep fans watching more games
-Cons: playoff structure altered despite a great postseason already, uneven divisions

Who is involved?
-...everyone. The six division system in place now is gone, so everyone is affected to some degree.

Why does it happen?
-See...the other answers. But in every case, its first and foremost about money, either to make more or to save more. College football can attest to that.

What difference does it make? Is it necessary?
-See...the other answers. It was necessary to do because of Winnipeg joining the league again and needing them out of the East, and to appease teams that were sacrificing money and interest in the current format.

I would greatly appreciate it if you could help me out! Thanks.
-Consider yourself helped. Here's a free bottle opener from the RealGM General NHL Discussion Board!

[billy101]

Thanks for the help guys! This is awsome

[billy101]

What is it that the MLB is doing?

And, how is money involved? thanks.

[trwi7]

MLB is moving Houston from the NL Central to the AL West. This brings the 6 teams in the NL Central down to 5 and the 4 teams in the AL West up to 5. It's for competitive balance (16 teams were in the NL, 14 in the AL) and to give Houston a geographic rival in the division because they were at a disadvantage being in the Central time zone while the other teams in their division were in the Pacific time zone (two hour difference).

[WEFFPIM]

What is it that the MLB is doing?

And, how is money involved? thanks.

What do you mean by this question? Like, specifics of it?

Also, you can cite us in your report if you'd like.

[billy101]

What is it that the MLB is doing?

And, how is money involved? thanks.

What do you mean by this question? Like, specifics of it?

Also, you can cite us in your report if you'd like.

Yeah I'll site you guys, and by money I mean is why is it a financial issue. Who is losing money who is gaining it? Are they being greedy, do they need to do it? etc ...

Also are there any possible discussion questions i can ask my peers? thanks !

[WEFFPIM]

For the NHL, it was more of a financial issue than being greedy. Here's a bunch of reasons why to blow your class away:

-As twirl and I have mentioned, a bunch of teams suffered with their road games because of where they are. Detroit, Nashville and Columbus are all in the Western Conference's Central Division, but reside in the Eastern time zone. This meant when they took a road trip within the conference, games sometimes start at 10, sometimes 10:30 at night for local fans. Not only does this hurt advertising dollars for sponsors for games, it hurts the team's wallets in terms of travel dollars since they're traveling so far.

-This is the same problem that was facing the Dallas Stars and Minnesota Wild, to a somewhat lesser extent. Dallas is in the Pacific Division but plays in the Central time zone. All of their division road games start around 9:00p. Same with Minnesota, who plays in the Northwest Division but resides in the Central time zone. Now, these two will be in a division with everyone else in the Central time zone (and lumped in with the three I mentioned in the first post). Less travel, less wear and tear, more fans watching more games, and more money they can save.

-Greed did factor in to some of this as well, mainly with how they're splitting the Eastern Conference up. Back when realignment was being discussed, the initial proposal separated the Penguins and Flyers into separate divisions. This made those two teams angry because of the natural rivalry they have, so they tweaked the realignment to keep them in the same division.

-Where this seemed to have the greatest impact is with the two Florida teams, the Panthers and Lightning. They're now in a division with teams in Northeast US and Ontario. Despite both teams having financial struggles over the years, they have the longest distance to travel for interdivision road games. You see that on the surface as a con for those two, then you see who else is in their division. Boston, Buffalo, Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa. Four of these teams have stellar traveling fan bases that will fill road arenas. While both the Panthers and Lightning are on the rise in their regions, the appeal of having full arenas more often than not was enticing to those two squads, even if it's not full with their own fans.

As far as questions for your peeps, that I'll leave up to you. Just look at this as a sports fan and what questions you'd ask yourself.

[billy101]

Thanks alot! This really assisted me in getting started, wish me luck guys :p

[trwi7]

Siting us will be great. I got this information from WEFFPIM and twirl on the realgm message boards.

[billy101]

Hey do you guys know of any youtube videos that I can use for my presentation that relate to the topic? Make sure they are not more than 3-4 minutes.

Thanks

[WEFFPIM]

No.

[billy101]

Sorry, one more quick question . . . Is realignment considered a major issue for sports in general? Why . . . I still don't understand why, is it just money? and timings of games?

[WEFFPIM]

You can consider it a major issue now if you want, since it isn't happening.

[TheRealistGM]

Sorry, one more quick question . . . Is realignment considered a major issue for sports in general? Why . . . I still don't understand why, is it just money? and timings of games?

Of course it is a major issue. The NHL and individual franchises are a business and in business it does come down to money. Realignment is simply an optimization tool. I think what your not understanding is that the timing of the games directly affects revenue generated.

For example a team like detroit has been trying for years to be moved to the eastern conference. This is simply, like the others discussed, due to the fact that (1) they lose viewership when they are playing out west, simply because their games are no longer on during "prime hours"...the results being less lucrative TV contracts, and smaller following. (2) Increased travel, more wear on players throughout the season. (3) Rivalries/Distance between teams you play most often.

Those are just 3 quick examples. When looking at realignment, it affects each team differently and there are different reasons why they do it. But the end goal is all the same. To make more money.

I felt like we just did all of your homework lol

[OldNo7]

There is an easy solution that I think the players would agree to: Instead of 4 conferences, have 4 divisions and 2 conferences, and have the top-8 make the playoffs; not the top-4 in each of the 4 uneven 'conferences'.

[WEFFPIM]

There is an easy solution that I think the players would agree to: Instead of 4 conferences, have 4 divisions and 2 conferences, and have the top-8 make the playoffs; not the top-4 in each of the 4 uneven 'conferences'.

Why not just wipe out divisions then and have two 15 team conferences, top 8 make it?

[OldNo7]

There is an easy solution that I think the players would agree to: Instead of 4 conferences, have 4 divisions and 2 conferences, and have the top-8 make the playoffs; not the top-4 in each of the 4 uneven 'conferences'.

Why not just wipe out divisions then and have two 15 team conferences, top 8 make it?

Because the schedule needs to be made so that teams play within their timezone more often, so if the schedule is going to weigh heavily toward playing only half of your conference more than the other half, that would create an imbalance in the strength of schedule within the same conference.